The most common mistake or deficiency in developing sports players of athletic activities is the development of improper or poor body posture. Poor posture is the posture that results from certain muscles tightening up or shortening while others lengthen and become weak which often occurs as a result of one's daily activities and athletic activates. There are different factors which can impact on posture and they include occupational activities and biomechanical factors such as force and repetition. Unfortunately, after a time, poor posture feels normal and continues to regress further from correct posture.
There are numerous drawbacks associated with poor posture in physical activities. Poor posture can impede the ability of the lungs to expand and decrease respiratory performance. Poor posture is also a main risk factor and contributor to many injuries. Many athletic injuries are the result of poor posture. Incorrect posture when participating in sports can also impede an individual from performing sports activities at their greatest capacity.
In ball contacting sports such as soccer, it is important to maintain good posture not only to prevent injuries, but also to increase movement and control when in possession of the ball. Good posture in ball contacting sports is perhaps best demonstrated by the maintaining the upper torso as slightly forward leaning position over the ball. This position is optimal for shooting, passing, dribbling, and other ball control maneuver and especially so in small areas.
Learning and maintaining a posture of a slightly forward leaning position over the ball often proves quite difficult for many players. The tendency to lean back away from the ball, a characteristic of poor posture, often comes naturally to a significant number of individuals. Unfortunately, current training practices to encourage and maintain good posture in ball contacting sports are limited to coaches and other observers watching the players and audibly providing them with posture feedback. This is time consuming as observers are only able to observe a limited number of players at a time, thereby decreasing the amount of training practice a player can receive. Other practices include recording videos of the players, but this also requires a significant investment of time decreasing the amount of training practices a player can receive. Without sufficient training practices poor posture can develop.
Therefore, a need exists for novel apparatuses for improving sports performance. There also exists a need for novel apparatuses for training players of ball contacting sports to possess and maintain good posture. There is a further need for novel apparatuses for good posture training that allow a player to train without individual observation. Finally, there exists a need for novel apparatuses for good posture training that do not require a significant investment of time decreasing the amount of training practice a player can receive.